Scientists solve 1840s space weather mystery

khat's comment is dead, but replying to it here:

> It's very odd they would assume a typo in the writing but not an error in their calculations or possibly no correlation whatsoever.

They didn't assume a typo, they concluded that a typo makes the most sense if the story is true.

The facts:

- The original story (as published) claims the event occurred on 18 October 1841 on a line that didn't exist at that time (not until 1846).

- The original story was specific about the train (a 10:05 express train) and the month and day (18 October)

- On 18 October 1848 there was an express train with that time and there was a recorded geomagnetic storm

Under the assumption the story is true, given the details that do line up and the one detail that can't line up with anything, a typographical error where one number was changed makes a lot of sense.

EDIT: @khat, if you read this, it seems you've somehow become shadowbanned. Both your comment here and your earlier comment from today are [dead]. This means admin moderation or auto-moderation was involved, these weren't [flagged][dead] which would have indicated users flagged it to death. Nothing in either looks like a reason to get shadowbanned so you may want to reach out to the mods (there's a contact link at the bottom of most pages).

> Were a similarly intense geomagnetic storm to occur today, it would likely seriously damage the electrical power grid, causing widespread outages and blackouts, as well as disrupting satellite communications.

Is this really true? I’m suspicious for a few reasons:

1. If it were true, I expect it would be a national security concern, and quickly remedied

2. While there is a lot more dependence on electrical connections, there’s also many more sources of disturbance now. So I suspect some of the failure modes are tested by “normal” human activity

3. EMI is a known risk, in my previous job we actively tested and built for it. I suppose if the limits are inappropriately set , or if this sort of testing isn’t wide spread, it could still be an issue.

4. As long as there’s a neutral line, i think any common mode should be rejected, in which case this should be fine?

and no AI was used!

btw if a enemy of the US was to explode a nuclear weapon high enough in the atmosphere over the continental US to overcome the curvature of the earth

ala a targeted "starfish prime" event

it would take out virtually every power transformer on every pole

exhausting all replacements for years

no specialized EMP needed and no direct strike needed

not sure what would happen to homes hardwired with solar

oh it would also take out every satellite in orbit as they would pass through the new artificial allen belt

doubt China would do this, however Putin could get desperate enough if he starts to lose his war entirely

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime

* https://www.science.org/content/article/us-tests-ways-sweep-...

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